Chapter One

Author's note: by way of background, the duel on Mustafar ended differently. Both Obi-Wan and Anakin left Mustarfar without any major injuries. Padme gave birth to the twins on Polis Massa and died shortly after. Vader doesn't need his suit to survive.

Blackness, only blackness. Adelaide was running through the blackness, with neither light nor landmarks. It may have lasted for minutes or hours; she couldn't tell. Suddenly, a ball of white light came out of nowhere. As she tried to reach it, the ball became bigger and bigger. She could almost touch it when the ball turned into a man – or was it even a man. He wore ebony black armor from head to toe. Somehow, the feeling of security that drew her to the ball of light through all the darkness disappeared. She was now shivering in front of that being. The light had faded, and only the two were in a pit of blackness. She could feel his gaze, but she didn't dare look at his face and focus on his chest plate instead. They stood like this for what seemed like an eternity.

« Don't fret, » an inhuman robotic voice broke the silence. Her eyes rose, but the armored man had disappeared, and she was alone again. In the distance, she could hear noises and decided to focus on that. The noises became closer until she could identify them as sirens. Then, she jerked awake.

She was breathing heavily; sweat had drenched her nightgown and sheets. It was the same dream again. The darkness and the black-armored man. Her room was still dark. So, she assumed it was late at night or early morning. A glance at the alarm clock answered it. 3:36 AM. The familiar emergency sirens, traffic noises, and lights filtered through the blinds helped soothe her. She got up from bed and headed to the window. Adelaide opened the blinds and the window to feel the fresh air. As she inhaled it, she looked at the familiar streets of New York City, its ordinary lights, and its mad drivers who beeped at every turn. No, she wasn't lost in the middle of darkness; she was in her room on planet Earth. After a moment, she got back to bed, but sleep wouldn't get at me again. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see the darkness again. After turning and turning again in her bed, dawn lights filtered through the blinds. Finally, that nightmarish night would be over. The clock rang, and she jumped out of bed.

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away

Vader was in his meditation chamber aboard the Executor. He had dreamt of Padme again. She had looked younger than she had eighteen years ago when he last saw her on Mustafar… When he had killed her. First, everything was black, and then she came out of nowhere.His dead wife did not recognize him. That was no wonder since he wore the black armor he used in battles and hid his identity. After waking up sweating, Vader went straight to his meditation chamber. He mentally pictured Padme and unsuccessfully tried to reach her through the Force. For sure, Padme had been dead for eighteen years. It was just a dream. Except that Sith Lords did not dream. They might have premonitions or Force visions, but not dreams.

Back on Earth

Adelaide quickly swallowed her breakfast, showered, and brushed her teeth before her best friend Kate dropped by to go to classes. It was their first year at university.

« I had this weird dream again,» she said as they walked silently.

« You mean the one about your man in shining armor, » Kate replied half-jokingly.

« Stop joking; it was no fairytale but beyond scary. » Kate had always joked about her friend's dreams. Sometimes, she would discourse about a reminiscence or my former fear of the dark as a child where the man would have come to rescue me from this. As a future scientist, she thought they were just dreams without any particular meaning hidden behind them.

Daylight was waning; the night was falling. Adelaide dreaded the night because it meant more freaky nightmares. She tried to stay up as late as possible, but eventually, tiredness was starting to overwhelm her, and she reluctantly went to bed.

Adelaide assessed the surroundings. It was no blackness but Central Park. First off, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, except that she was alone. But as soon as she thought this, fog came out of nowhere at ground level before becoming thicker and thicker. She started to panic as this was not normal. The fog was a natural phenomenon coming from the clouds, not the ground. She turned around to scan her surroundings, but there was fog everywhere. Suddenly, she noticed a shadowy figure standing a few feet away. It was shady; however, she could still make out the bulking shoulders of an armor, and its ebony black color was in sharp contrast to the fog. She knew what it meant. So, she ran like hell. As she was becoming breathless, she stopped running only to see that the shadow and fog had disappeared; the sun was shining brightly again. Adelaide woke up suddenly, the colorful light of dawn bathing the room.

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away.

Vader came out of his meditation chamber. After waking up from another vivid dream about Padme, he had spent some time in it. This time, he was in what looked like a promenade with paths amongst fauna. Then, the fog had crept out of the nowhere, which meant absolutely no sense. She seemed to catch his figure before running away. Considering her reaction to their previous dreamy encounter, he didn't dare follow her. As if it weren't enough, he had felt trouble in the Force for the past few days. As he exited his quarters aboard the Executor, Admiral Ozzel stopped him.

« What is it? Admiral, » the Sith sighed

« The Emperor demands you make contact, » the smug Admiral replied, oblivious to his master's foul mood.

The Dark Lord kneeled on the holo projection pod before his master's hologram appeared in front of him

« What is the bidding, my master? » Vader inquired. Palpatine then told him to rise.

« I sensed great trouble in the Force, » the expressionless face of his master replied. « I spend days meditating on the matter, » he pursued. « I believe it has something to do with the late Senator Amidala, » Palpatine dropped the bombshell. Vader was doing his best to conceal his thoughts from his master. Indeed, his mind was in turmoil. For eighteen years, he had tried everything. He had plunged deeper into the dark side of the Force to bring his beloved wife back.

« Surely, you must have realized that any attempt to bring her back is pointless, » Sidious halted his apprentice's reverie. Vader agreed with a nod of his head. « Yet, in a way, you are right, and in another way, you are wrong, » Sidious continued. Vader's curiosity reached its peak. « Padme Amidala's body may be in her mausoleum. Her soul has moved on as soon as her body ceased to live. A new name, a new homeworld, a new life… new memories. » Sidious ended. Darth Vader felt like he had been caught off-guard for the first time in a very long time. He had spent a considerable amount of time trying unsuccessfully to bring Padme to life, whereas he just had to be patient and wait. Vader couldn't conceal his excitement anymore.

« Please, lessen your excitement, my apprentice. It is way more complicated than you think. Even with my almighty powers, I couldn't manage to catch her location. » This meeting was an actual emotional thrill ride for Vader. Of course, it was too good to be true. Even his master couldn't bring back his beloved wife.

« Which means you'd have to earn it to get your wife back, Lord Vader. I believe you had visions about her, » Vader didn't reply, but his silence said. « Don't dread them, don't fight them. Plunge into them; and only there find your wife you shall ». Sidious made a gesture to indicate that their meeting was over. Vader bowed before leaving the hologram pod. His mind was in turmoil. First, he had thought there were just dreams; a new way the Force had found to torture him by reminding him of Padme and what he did to her. Then, he had heavily hoped there were more; after eighteen long years, Padme was finally within his reach. Making his way toward the bridge, the Sith Lord recalled his visions of Padme in his mind. The first one was total blackness, so he could not get anything out of it. The second one happened in what looked like human-made paths within vegetation. It was not very useful either, as trillions were across the galaxy. His mind was in turmoil. He mentally went through his options. Firstly, he could wait until one of the Force visions happened at night to check the constellations Padme could see and determine a galaxy zone. Secondly, he could use his Sith magic and turn the visions the way he wants them to make Padme spill details about her new homeworld. With that, he finally reached the bridge.

Meanwhile, in the Milky Way

This time, Adelaide was in Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania, where she used to go camping with her parents. The sky was perfectly clear; she knew what to expect from now on. She turned 360 degrees, searching for the bulky armored man. It was in a large camping field, cleared over almost a mile around so that she would see him coming from a distance. She was utterly alone.

Darth Vader walked through the woods until he came out on a large meadow. He took a look at the night sky. A whitish trail was crossing the sky. This could mean the plane was situated at the edge of one of the galaxy rims. He checked the stars on both sides of the white trail but failed to recognize any star alignments. It made him uncomfortable since he had spent the early years of his childhood watching them – and then most of his adult life traveling from one system to another. He lowered his gaze, and here she was, standing in the middle of the meadow.

Padme. His angel. She was turning her back to him. He made out her petite frame and wavy hair falling on her back. Only illuminated by the starlights and the white trail of the galaxy, she truly looked like an angel. He quickly made his way toward her. Then, he noticed he was once again wearing his black armor. Remembering her fear, he took off his helmet. For the first time in a long time, he looked at her with his own eyes.

« Padme, » he called her.